The Oath, by John Godfrey Saxe

The Oath

"Don't forget me!" sighing sadly,
So my darling bade farewell;
Haply deeming I would gladly
Disenchant me of her spell.   Ah! The siren! When did Beauty
Ask in vain Love's simple debt?
Or whene'er did languid Duty
Heed the warning, "Don't forget!"   By her eyes where love reposes;
By her wealth of golden hair;
By her cheek's ungathered roses;
By her neck divinely fair;   By her bosom, throne of blisses,
Hiding from the wanton light,
Pale with envy at the kisses
That her bolder lips invite;   By the hours so sweetly squandered
In the summer afternoons;
By the orchard where we wandered
In the sheen of harvest moons;   By the poets, new and olden,
Who in pity lent us speech
For the fancies, rare and golden,
That our words could never reach--   By all these my oath is given,
Though my soul remember not
Earthly fame or hope of heaven,
She shall never be forgot!

poems.one - John Godfrey Saxe

John Godfrey Saxe